Hosta plant named ‘Royal Wedding’

ABSTRACT

A new and distinct  Hosta  plant named ‘Royal Wedding’ with foliage having blades of wide variegated creamy-white to near white margins, and dark center with minor intermediate feathering colors. The plant habit is compact and rounded in habit with sweetly fragrant white flowers just above foliage in mid to late summer.

LATIN NAME AND VARIETY DENOMINATION OF THE PLANT

Botanical classification: Hosta hybrid (Tratt.).

Variety denomination: ‘Royal Wedding’.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED PLANTS

There are over 5,000 registered Hosta cultivars with The American Hosta Society, which is the International Cultivar Registration Authority for the genus Hosta and a similar number of unregistered cultivars. Only one species and a small number of these cultivars have fragrant flowers, and a smaller number still have variegated foliage and white flowers. Hosta ‘Royal Wedding’ is a natural, un-induced, whole-plant mutation from ‘Diana Remembered’ (not patented). ‘Diana Remembered’ is a stable variegated form of the streaked and unstable cultivar Hosta ‘Seventh Heaven’ (not patented) which is a selection from a cross between Hosta ‘Kevin Vaughn’ (not patented)×Hosta plantaginea. Other fragrant, light-margined hostas include: ‘Austin Dickinson’ (not patented), ‘Emily Dickinson’ (not patented), ‘Fragrant King’ (not patented), ‘Fragrant Queen’ U.S. Plant Pat. No. 19,508, ‘Iron Gate Glamour’ (not patented), ‘Iron Gate Special’; (not patented), ‘Mistress Mabel’ (not patented), ‘So Sweet’ (not patented), ‘Summer Fragrance’ (not patented) and ‘White Margin’ U.S. Plant Pat. No. 8,015. All of the above Hosta cultivars have fragrant flowers and variegated foliage with green centers and lighter margins.

FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH

This invention was developed without any federally sponsored research or development funding.

BACKGROUND AND ORIGIN OF THE PLANT

The present invention relates to a new and distinct hosta plant, Hosta ‘Royal Wedding’ hereinafter also referred to as the new plant or just the cultivar name, ‘Royal Wedding’. Hosta ‘Royal Wedding’ was discovered by Amy J. Bergeron as a non-induced, naturally-occurring, whole-plant mutation in a batch of tissue cultured propagated Hosta ‘Diana Remembered’ (not patented) at a wholesale nursery greenhouse in Zeeland, Mich., USA on Mar. 29, 2010. The new plant has been asexually propagated by division at the same nursery in Zeeland, Mich. USA since 2012 and also by careful shoot tip plant tissue culture with the resultant asexually propagated plants having retained all the same traits as the original plant. ‘Royal Wedding’ is stable and reproduces true to type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE PLANT

The nearest comparison variety is Hosta ‘Diana Remembered’, and the new plant, ‘Royal Wedding’, differs by having wider variegated margins, thicker substance to the foliage and slightly darker green leaf centers.

Distinctions between the above listed comparison cultivars and the new plant are further delineated in Table 1 below.

TABLE 1 Cultivar Comparisons MARGIN MARGIN LEAF FLOWER CULTIVAR COLOR WIDTH SHAPE COLOR ‘Austin Dickinson’ creamy white medium ovate purple ‘Diana Remembered’ creamy white medium rounded white ‘Emily Dickinson’ creamy white thin ovate light purple ‘Fragrant King’ creamy yellow wide rounded pale lavender ‘Fragrant Queen’ creamy white wide rounded pale lavender ‘Iron Gate Glamour’ creamy white medium ovate purple ‘Iron Gate Special’ near white medium ovate pale lavender ‘Mistress Mabel’ creamy white medium ovate light lavender ‘Royal Wedding’ creamy white wide rounded white ‘So Sweet creamy white narrow ovate lavender ‘Summer Fragrance’ creamy yellow medium ovate lavender

Other Hosta cultivars have short habit and variegation of a similar nature, or other individual traits similar to ‘Royal Wedding’ but the new plant differs from the above cultivars and all other hostas known to the applicant, by the combination of the following traits:

-   -   1. Compact rounded plant habit;     -   2. Variegated foliage with wide creamy-white to near-white         margins, green center and minor intermediate feathered colors         between;     -   3. White fragrant flowers just above foliage; and     -   4. Stiff scapes and leaves with thick substance.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The photographs of the new plant demonstrate the overall appearance of the plant, including the unique traits. The colors are as accurate as reasonably possible with color reproductions. Ambient light spectrum, temperature, source and direction may cause the appearance of minor variation in color.

The first drawing shows a three-year old Hosta ‘Royal Wedding’ plant in a container in mid-season grown in a shaded greenhouse at a nursery in Zeeland, Mich. with supplement fertilizer and water as needed.

FIG. 2 shows a close-up of the scape and flowers of Hosta ‘Royal Wedding’.

DETAILED BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION

The following descriptions and color references are based on the 2001 edition of The Royal Horticultural Society Colour Chart except where common dictionary terms are used. The new plant, Hosta ‘Royal Wedding’, has not been observed under all possible environments. The phenotype may vary slightly with different environmental conditions, such as temperature, light, fertility, moisture and maturity levels, but without any change in the genotype. The following observations and size descriptions are of a potted three-year old plant in a shaded greenhouse in Zeeland, Mich. with supplemental water and fertilizer.

-   Botanical classification: Hosta×hybrid. -   Parentage: Whole-plant mutation of Hosta ‘Diana Remembered’ (not     patented). -   Propagation: Garden division and sterile plant tissue culture. -   Time to initiate roots from tissue culture: About two to three     weeks. -   Growth rate: Rapid. -   Crop time: About 10 to 12 weeks to finish during the summer in a     one-liter container from rooted tissue culture plantlet. -   Rooting habit: Normal, fleshy, lightly branching. -   Plant shape and habit: Hardy herbaceous perennial with basal rosette     of leaves emerging from rhizomes producing a short symmetrical mound     of broadly horizontal leaves. -   Plant size: Foliage height 30.0 to 34.0 cm above soil line to the     top of the leaves and 50.0 to 56.0 cm wide at the widest point     slightly above the soil line. -   Foliage description: Entire, glabrous, slightly glaucous above and     becoming lustrous my mid-season, lustrous below; cordate, broadly     acute leaf apex with cordate base; slightly sinuate; medium     blistering or dimpling, up to about 4.0 mm deep in between veins;     twisting absent; margin undulation weak. -   Leaf blade: Cordate, becoming more rounded with maturity; about 13.0     cm long and 10.0 cm wide; dark green center and light yellow margin     that varies in width from 16 mm to 36 mm wide at broadest portion of     leaf blade. -   Leaf blade color: Early season shortly after emergence adaxial (top)     center color between RHS 135A and RHS 135B; early season adaxial     margin nearest RHS 150D; early season abaxial (underside) center     nearest RHS 135B; early season abaxial margin between RHS 150D and     RHS 145D; other intermediate colors in irregular patches and stripes     between the margin and center portions normally jutting toward the     leaf blade center on both adaxial and abaxial sides comprising     nearest RHS 138D, RHS N144C, RHS 142D and RHS 144D; mid-season and     later summer adaxial centers between RHS 135B and RHS N 134A;     mid-season and later adaxial margins near white, lighter than RHS     155D; mid-season and later abaxial center between RHS 139B and RHS     136C; mid-season and later abaxial margins near white, lighter than     RHS 155D; intermediate colors where adaxial and abaxial leaf blade     margins and centers unevenly and irregularly fold over each other     comprising: larger portions of nearest RHS 138D, and smaller     portions of nearest RHS 157B, nearest RHS 144D, lighter than RHS     N144D, and nearest RHS 145C.     -   -   Petiole.—Entire, glabrous, concavo-convex; mostly straight             from base of plant to leaf base with little bending or             curving, stiff; between 8.0 to 12.0 cm long and 10.0 to 13.0             mm wide at base, average about 10 cm long and 12 mm wide.         -   Petiole color.—Adaxial and abaxial centers between RHS 137B             and RHS 136B; adaxial and abaxial margins nearest RHS 157C.         -   Veins.—Parallel, raised on abaxial side, normally 9 pairs             and one main center vein.         -   Veins color.—Adaxial and abaxial veins the same color as the             surrounding tissue. -   Flower description:     -   -   Buds one day prior to opening.—Globose with rounded apex and             narrow base; about 1.5 cm in diameter with base narrowing at             about mid-length to about 0.4 cm diameter; about 4.5 cm             long.         -   Bud color.—White, lighter than RHS 155D.         -   Flowers.—Perfect; funnelform; held nearly horizontal with             pedicel at 90 degree angle to peduncle; about 7.0 cm wide             and 6.0 cm long, fused portion about 2.5 cm long and 3.0 mm             diameter (distal flowers smaller); persists for a normal             period, usually one day on plant or as cut flower; scapes             remain effective with flowers from mid-August to             mid-September with 16 to 22 flowers per scape; attitude             nearly horizontal to slightly drooping.         -   Fragrance.—Pleasant, lightly sweet.         -   Tepal.—Two nearly identical sets of three, glabrous, entire;             fused at base; with acute apex; inner set approximately 7.5             cm long and 2.0 cm wide; outer set approximately 7.5 cm long             and 2.2 cm wide.         -   Tepal color.—Coloring of both sets identical; adaxial and             abaxial centers and margins white, lighter than RHS 155D.         -   Tepal veins.—Three nearly indistinguishable in center of             tepal.         -   Tepal vein color.—White, lighter than RHS 155D.         -   Gynoecium.—Single; tri-carpelled. Style: single,             approximately 7.5 cm long, 1.5 mm diameter, curved upward in             distal 1.0 cm about 90 degrees; color lighter than RHS 155D.             Stigma: globose, about 2 mm in diameter; color lighter than             RHS 155D. Ovary; ovoid, about 7.0 mm long and 3.0 mm             diameter at widest; color nearest RHS 145B.         -   Androecium.—Filaments: six, approximately 7.0 cm long and             1.0 mm in diameter; curved upward to nearly 90 degrees in             the apical 1.0 cm; color lighter than RHS 155D. Anthers:             elliptic; dorsifixed, longitudinally dehiscent; about 4.0 mm             long and 1.5 mm wide; color between RHS N187A and RHS N186B             along perimeter and nearest RHS N170D in the center where             attached to filament. Pollen: elliptic, less than 0.1mm             long, color between RHS 14C and RHS 11A.         -   Peduncle.—Usually one per mature division; glaucous,             glabrous; nearly slightly angled to 30 degrees from vertical             with slight curve at distal end; 45 to 50 cm tall, and up to             8.0 mm in diameter at base.         -   Peduncle color.—Nearest RHS 139A in the lower portion and             nearest RHS 139B in the upper portion.         -   Pedicel.—Short, glabrous; approximately 8.0 mm long and 2.5             mm diameter; nearest RHS 139B.         -   Scape bracts.—Each flower normally subtended by a single             bract with sometimes one or rarely two below the first             flower; size varies with immature plants usually resembling             leaves in size and shape; average fit bract average 10 cm             long and 5 cm wide, acute apex, sessile base partially             clasping, concaved supporting flower, decreasing in size             distally; bracts subtending flowers protruding to nearly             perpendicular to scape.         -   Scape bract color.—At time of flowering adaxial center             between RHS 137C and RHS 137B, adaxial and abaxial margin             lighter than RHS 155D and more green than RHS 11C; abaxial             centers between RHS 137B and RHS 137C. -   Fruit: Tri-valved dehiscent capsule; elliptic, about 2.7 cm long and     5.0 mm diameter; color when mature nearest RHS 161C. -   Seed: About 24 per capsule; endospermic; flattened-elliptic wing     surrounding embryo situated toward one end of ellipse; about 7.0 mm     long and 2.0 mm wide and 1.0 mm thick at embryo; color nearest RHS     202A. -   Disease tolerance and resistance: The new plant has not shown any     resistance to pests and diseases common to hostas. Hosta ‘Royal     Wedding’ is capable of tolerating more heat and sunlight than     typical hostas and requires less vernalization to emerge and grow     well. The plant grows best and shows best coloration with plenty of     moisture, adequate drainage and light shade, but is able to tolerate     some drought when mature, and tolerates direct sun without leaf     burn, especially during the cooler parts of the day and when     provided sufficient water. Hardiness at least from USDA zone 3     through 9, and other disease resistance is typical of that of other     hostas. 

I claim:
 1. A new and distinct ornamental plant cultivar named Hosta ‘Royal Wedding’ as herein described and illustrated. 